Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

Tend to agree. Lots of tries even if one sided scorelines.

Jansen.He looked very hard tackler. And he showed good carries twice at least. He looked unbearable the heatwave and thin air after long absence. I think that he is genuine as same as another Sean. Hawkshaw worked hard as same as Ralston, Forde and O'Harolan. He looks to fit at 10 than 13 (my opinion) . He looks to spare no effort. Maybe you wonder that why Connacht sufferedsuch a big lost at this game while holding such good players. It was because of the intense heatwave and high altitude. The good thing was that there was no sirious injury. I'm sorry my poor English. Can you understand my feedback?

I don't think Jansen had any impact on the game really. First outing so wouldnt be judging him too harshly but sob stood out when he came on for me where Jansen had been pretty anonymous. Hopefully better days ahead as he get his match fitness back.

Hawkshaw had a good day, tackled and carried hard when the chance presented and released Forde with an nice delayed pass for Killgalens try. I wouldn't be cringing if we had to play him at 13 again. He's an interesting one for me, always performs well when selected but not selected often. I wonder where he sits in the managements thoughts. 10, 12, utility? He's a pretty high quality 3rd/4th/5th choice 10/12 with Carty, JJ, Forde, Daly and bundi all in the mix. Would he be worth a look at 15 ?

So overall, if I were to assess our trip to SA, I would say the team worked their hearts out, but strategy sucked. And you can't blame the players for that

Wow, there is something I would happily bet my entire life's savings on never reading/hearing

Connacht haven't won a trophy since he left though.....

I thought you were going to provide a reason to bring Rodney back?

Colm Reilly is injured and unavailable this weekend against Leinster. This means either Matthew Devine or Michael McDonald should make their debut from the bench, which is exciting even if it's a tough opening act for them.

Devine really impressed me as an U20, I thought he was one of the stand outs from that group. McDonald was born in Cooley Co. Louth but moved to Oz as a teenager and was selected for the Australian U20s in 2019. He spent last year with Ulster but played just once for a grand total of twenty minutes (he wasn't the only one to be starved of playing opportunities in that Ulster squad).

https://www.the42.ie/michael-mcdonald-ulster-5821798-Jul2022/

That's an interesting observation with regard to the Connacht cohort from that U20 team, Wasn't Chay Mullins playing 7s?

Obviously with Blade and Marmion, Connacht had unusual strength at 9 which meant that fewer opportunities. More so because they both had a good injury profile. Devine has only bee in the Academy one season so it's not long. Only player who recently made a breakthrough in his first year was Prendergast. The coaches obviously hold Reilly in some esteem as he he's already on 25 caps, and i can see why, he's a tidy players.

I thought Kerins had a huge future at Connacht. What happened?

According to IT, unfortunately Devine pick some injury(groin) at AIL game. I don't know thatWhen it happened. Refs is now decide for the Dervy match. All Irish team they will be.The ref =Brace, AR=Martin and Davison. TMO=Hodgis. Is it good for connacht?

https://www.irishrugby.ie/2023/11/29/ireland-sevens-squads-named-for-hsbc-svns-series-opener-in-dubai/

Shane Jennings and Chay Mullins in the Sevens squad for the first round of the Sevens series

Is Jennings on a senior contract? Would really need to see him pushing on next season with the senior team.

A run at 7s could help him if he is aiming to breakthrough as a back three player though.